Friday, October 19, 2012
Almost a month had passed since the game against the Houston Cougars in Texas.
For Andrew, it had been the second time that year he had returned to that state. The first had been in January, during the high school all-star game.
The home state of his past life.
Since then, UCLA had played three more games.
The result had been perfect.
Three straight wins.
With Week 7 now over, UCLA's record stood at 6-1.
And after reaching number ten in the rankings following the win against Houston, those three new victories pushed the Bruins even higher.
They were now the number seven team in the country.
In Week 5, UCLA hosted the Colorado Buffaloes.
The game went exactly as Andrew had predicted during that dinner at Jay's house, the same night the entire family found out there would soon be a new Pritchett.
A blowout.
Colorado simply had no answers.
Their defense, already poor to begin with, was unable to hold up against the form Andrew, Steve, Shaq, Amari, and the rest of UCLA's offense were in.
The Bruins set the tempo from the first quarter and never let go of control of the game.
By the middle of the third quarter, Jim Mora decided he had seen enough and benched Andrew to avoid any unnecessary risk.
His final stats were:
Completions / Attempts: 15 / 19 (78.95%)
Passing yards: 245
Touchdowns: 3 TDs (all passing; connecting with Amari, Shaq, and Steve)
Interceptions: 0 INT
Carries: 1 carry for 15 yards
It was an expected and dominant performance. Nothing dramatic.
Just another demonstration that, when UCLA faced an inferior opponent, Andrew could destroy the game in two or three quarters.
Week 6 was different. UCLA traveled to face the California Golden Bears.
On paper, it looked like another formality.
California came in with a 1-4 record and a season that, up to that point, had been disappointing.
They were nowhere near entering the rankings.
But in football, games are rarely decided only by both teams' positions in the rankings.
UCLA and California had a historic rivalry dating back to 1933. It was one of the longest uninterrupted rivalries in college football, and because both teams had bear-related nicknames, many fans referred to the matchup as the Bear Bowl.
For UCLA, USC was still the great rivalry.
The natural enemy.
After all, both programs shared the same city.
The battle for Los Angeles.
The California Bears, on the other hand, were something else.
A less intense and much more distant rivalry, both emotionally and geographically. Nearly three hundred and fifty miles separated the two universities, so there was not the same direct hatred or the same feeling of territorial war that came with every duel against USC.
But that did not mean it was just any other game.
There was history. Decades of matchups.
The symbolic weight of a conference rivalry that, even without the ferocity of the Los Angeles classic, never felt like just another date on the schedule.
And for the Golden Bears, beating UCLA at home, that team the entire country was talking about, led by the star freshman shaking up the NCAA, could salvage the pride of a mediocre season.
That was why, even though they came in struggling, they played as if that game were a final.
The matchup was played at California Memorial Stadium, which held more than sixty thousand spectators.
A complete sellout.
The atmosphere was hostile from the very first snap, and the game ended up turning into an offensive war.
Since Week 1 against Rice, UCLA's biggest weakness had been clear: its defense.
That problem showed up again in a major way.
California punished the Bruins' defense again and again, finding gaps on the ground and keeping the score alive throughout the entire game.
Because of that, Andrew could not do what he had done in the previous games, and he played the entire game.
What began as a matchup many expected to be comfortable turned into a wild shootout.
Blow for blow.
Touchdown for touchdown.
Every time UCLA seemed to be pulling away, California answered.
But in the fourth quarter, Andrew took definitive control.
Not only through the air, but also with his legs, picking up vital first downs when the offense needed them most.
In the end, UCLA managed to win 48-40.
It was an exhausting victory, but also one of those wins that strengthened the narrative of a Heisman contender.
Andrew had not shined against a weak opponent in a game decided early.
He had carried his team when they needed him and when the defense failed.
His stats were as follows:
Completions / Attempts: 28 / 38 (73.6%)
Passing yards: 415
Touchdowns: 6 passing TDs
Interceptions: 0 INT
Carries: 4 carries for 38 yards
Total offensive yards: 453
A monstrous performance that allowed him to tie a record.
With six passing touchdowns, Andrew tied the all-time UCLA and Pac-12 record for most touchdown passes thrown by a quarterback in a single game.
Six.
A number reserved for a very select group of quarterbacks in the conference.
Among them were names from another era, like John Elway, who had done it with Stanford in 1980, and Pat Barnes, who did the same with California in 1996.
Matt Barkley of USC was also on that list, having reached that number twice: first against UCLA the previous season, during that humiliating 50-0 defeat the Bruins still had not forgotten, and then again in this same campaign against Hawaii in Week 1.
Now Andrew was part of that list as well. But as a true freshman, he was the only one with that distinction.
Lastly, there was the game against the Utah Utes.
That one was much closer to what UCLA had expected.
A formality.
Utah offered resistance during certain stretches, but it never truly felt like they could change the outcome of the game.
The defense and the offense handled the matchup without much trouble.
By the end of the third quarter, the lead was already wide enough for Mora to send him to the bench and let him rest with an eye on what was coming next.
His numbers were excellent once again:
Completions / Attempts: 18 / 23 (78.2%)
Passing yards: 290 yds
Touchdowns: 4 TDs (3 passing, 1 rushing)
Interceptions: 0 INT
Carries / Yards: 3 carries for 22 yards (1 rushing TD)
As for the weekly awards, those three games also added to Andrew's personal collection.
He won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in all three weeks. By that point, it was simply the norm for analysts, journalists, and the general public.
What other Pac-12 freshman could possibly be better than Andrew? And not even a freshman from any other conference could really compete with him.
He had six awards in seven weeks. By then, the award felt less like a weekly competition and more like a formality with his name written on it in advance.
However, in Week 5, he did not manage to take home Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week.
That honor went to Sean Mannion, quarterback of Oregon State.
In a way, that also reinforced the importance of the victory UCLA had earned weeks earlier against Oregon State.
The Beavers had made it clear they were not just any opponent.
They were the breakout team of the season.
UCLA, although no one expected them to be firmly sitting inside the Top 7 by that point, had at least started the year with plenty of hype, beginning at number seventeen in the rankings.
Oregon State, on the other hand, had been something no one had seen coming.
After losing to UCLA and Andrew in that third game, the Beavers did not lose again. They strung together wins, climbed week after week, and were now ranked number nine in the AP Poll.
That Bruins victory, which had already seemed important at the time, looked even more valuable as the weeks passed.
It made Andrew's 95-yard run against what was becoming one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 feel even more mythical.
And if Andrew did not win the conference offensive award in Week 5, he had even less chance of claiming any national honors.
That week belonged entirely to Geno Smith.
The West Virginia quarterback delivered a performance that brought the college football scene to a standstill: eight touchdowns against Baylor and 656 total yards.
It was one of those games that monopolized headlines, television debates, and conversations across the country.
It even momentarily overshadowed Andrew and UCLA, despite the Bruins having spent weeks under the spotlight.
Geno Smith unanimously won both the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week and the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week.
There was no possible debate.
In Week 6, however, the story was different.
The rivalry game against the California Golden Bears, combined with the fact that Andrew tied a historic Pac-12 record with six passing touchdowns, made him impossible to ignore.
That week, he did win Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week.
It was the fourth of his season.
With that, Andrew tied the record set by Matt Barkley the previous season, becoming only the second player to win four Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week awards in a single campaign.
The difference was that Andrew was still in October.
The season was not over yet.
He also took home the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week, the third of his year.
Geno Smith had another great game, with four touchdowns, but this time it was not enough to eclipse what Andrew had done in an offensive war, on the road, against a historic rival, while tying a conference record.
The only award that escaped him was the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week.
In that category, Andrew still had one.
As for the awards in Week 7, Utah was not an insignificant opponent, but it did not offer a strong enough narrative to push Andrew toward national honors.
Besides, he only played three quarters, or, to be precise, two and a half quarters. He did not play the entire third quarter.
Because of that, he only received Pac-12 Freshman of the Week that week.
That Friday, Monica Geller was in her apartment in Los Angeles.
She had been living there for almost two months now and, to her own surprise, she had adapted wonderfully.
Rachel's idea of dragging her out here had always left her with doubts, wondering whether she had made a mistake, but now she knew she had not.
The city, which at first had seemed enormous, noisy, and a little intimidating despite her coming from New York, was starting to feel like her new home. She had friends, a routine, independence, and a clear direction.
She had become friends with Andrew, her YouTube idol, which still felt surreal.
The same went for Haley. In fact, living together had made her much closer to her.
And then there were Leonard, Howard, and Steve.
UCLA games had also become part of her week with almost the same natural ease as her culinary school classes.
She had already started classes at the institute she had enrolled in.
Everything was going perfectly.
Friends, a social life, independence, a calling that finally felt real, and the strange excitement of following up close the college season of the most talked-about player in all of college football—someone who, before she met him in person, had simply been her YouTube idol.
That afternoon, it was around four o'clock.
Monica was sitting on the couch, leaning slightly forward, her elbows resting on her knees and her eyes fixed on the television.
ESPN was on the screen.
More specifically, Around the Horn, one of the network's best-known daily sports debate shows.
It was not a show dedicated exclusively to football, but since it was Friday afternoon, right before another major Saturday of college football, the conversation was clearly dominated by that topic.
She had always found the format curious.
Tony Reali, the host, moderated from Washington, D.C. At just thirty-five years old, he had a mix of quick energy, measured irony, and absolute control of the pace that kept the show from ever feeling slow.
From his desk, he fired off questions, cut off answers, and kept in check the four panelists who appeared on screen from different cities.
Each panelist occupied their own box, like cards arranged on some kind of sports board.
On the left was Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. In his fifties, with a shaved head, gray beard, and serious expression, he was the natural voice for anything related to the West Coast.
Beside him was Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News. Also in his fifties, with light hair, a neat beard, and an expression that often mixed humor with very serious, detailed analysis. His presence was key whenever the conversation shifted toward the Big 12, Texas, Oklahoma, or West Virginia.
In another box was J. A. Adande, who participated with his usual calm tone. He had a more measured way of speaking, less explosive than some of the other panelists, but precisely because of that, his comments often sounded more solid.
Finally, Kevin Blackistone of The Washington Post completed the panel. Bald, wearing glasses, with an elegant presence.
Monica barely blinked as she listened. She did not have the relaxed posture of someone who had simply left the television on in the background.
At that moment, Tony, the host, asked the question Monica had been waiting several minutes to hear.
"After what happened in Lubbock, Geno Smith is no longer the Heisman favorite for many analysts. Even here at ESPN, our Heisman Watch panel dropped him to fifth place, while Andrew Pritchett-Tucker solidified his spot at number one, followed by Kansas State's Collin Klein."
Tony looked toward the boxes containing his panelists, "Do you agree with that change?"
Kevin was the first to speak, "Without a doubt, Tony. What happened to West Virginia was a national exposure. They came into Lubbock as the most explosive offense in the country, and Texas Tech held them to fourteen points."
West Virginia and its quarterback, Geno Smith, had fallen the previous Saturday.
During Weeks 5 and 6, Geno had become the clear number one in the Heisman race. Twelve touchdowns in just two games. Video-game numbers, as many liked to call them. Headlines everywhere. And for the first time since the start of the season, it looked as if he had truly separated himself from Andrew.
But in the last game, everything collapsed.
West Virginia, ranked number five in the country, lost 49-14 to a Texas Tech team that was not even ranked.
It was one of the biggest upsets of the year.
The Mountaineers' defense collapsed completely, but the most serious part was that their offense was shut down as well. That unit, which had been averaging more than fifty points per game, was handcuffed, pressured, and reduced to an unrecognizable version of itself.
Tim, who knew the Big 12 closely and seemed more willing to defend Geno, stepped in.
"One bad game doesn't erase six weeks of dominance," he said, shaking his head. "Geno Smith still has incredible numbers. This is West Virginia's first loss. Let me remind you, UCLA also has one loss. Pritchett-Tucker lost a game too. I think it's an overreaction to bury a Heisman campaign because of one bad afternoon."
He paused before adding,
"Plenty of Heisman winners have had losses during their seasons. Not everyone can finish 13-0. If every time a player loses a game we're going to turn it into a national crisis, then this stops being analysis and becomes pure circus."
Bill responded almost instantly, "One bad afternoon? Tim, they lost 49-14 to an unranked team. The most lethal offense in the country was shut down by a team nobody would've bet a dollar on. That's not a bad afternoon. That's a giant red flag."
"Exactly," Kevin nodded. "And yes, UCLA lost too. But the difference is how it happened. The Bruins lost in Lincoln against Nebraska, a ranked opponent, in a hostile stadium, and they took the game down to the wire. West Virginia was crushed by an unranked team when many people were already viewing them as a real national championship contender. Context matters."
Monica nodded almost without realizing it.
One loss could not completely erase a great season. Even the best players could have a bad afternoon. Even the best teams could fall.
But it was also true that not all losses carried the same weight.
Adande, who until then had been listening in silence, stepped in with his calmer tone.
"I agree with Kevin and Bill. And I think Geno Smith, as the leading Heisman candidate, had the chance to prove something Pritchett-Tucker had already proven against California."
Tony raised his eyebrows slightly, "What do you mean, J. A.?"
Adande took a second before answering, looking straight into the camera.
"Pritchett was standing in California Memorial Stadium watching his defense fall apart. California scored forty points on them. The game turned into a shootout. And how did he respond? With six touchdowns, tying a historic Pac-12 record and winning 48-40."
Monica pressed her lips together, holding back a smile.
"He understood what his team needed," Adande continued. "If his defense couldn't stop the opponent, then his offense couldn't afford to fail. He took responsibility, pushed the tempo, and kept UCLA in front. Geno, on the other hand, had a similar situation in Lubbock. His team needed its quarterback to answer and keep them alive, and he didn't show up. The most explosive offense in the country disappeared."
Kevin, who was listening closely, nodded several times.
"That's the difference," he added. "Pritchett shows up in adversity. He did it against California, and he also did it against Oregon State, which is now ninth in the rankings. To me, it is completely fair that he is leading both analyst and public opinion in the Heisman race."
Tim could not refute that. The arguments were solid, and he knew it.
He liked Geno Smith and West Virginia. And as a man who knew the Big 12 closely, he could not deny that he would have loved to see someone from that conference take home college football's top individual award.
But he also could not argue that the image left behind in Lubbock had been terrible.
Even so, he found another angle.
"All right, I'll accept that," he finally said. "But we also have to look at what's coming next. Because UCLA survived California, yes, and I understand it was a rivalry, I understand the atmosphere. But it is still true that a 1-4 team put them in serious trouble. That game could have turned into an embarrassment for the Bruins."
Tony tilted his head slightly, interested.
Tim continued, "And now, although UCLA has a bye this week, the schedule finally gets serious again. Very serious. Pritchett may be first in the Heisman Watch today, but over the next two weeks, he's going to have to defend that spot against ranked opponents. That's where we're going to find out whether he can maintain this level."
Tony picked up the idea with enthusiasm, "And that's a great point," he said, pointing toward the camera with his pen. "UCLA doesn't play this Saturday. A bye week for the Bruins. But when they return, the schedule gets tougher in a hurry."
A graphic appeared on the screen showing UCLA's upcoming games.
Week 9: vs. Arizona Wildcats — #24
Week 10: vs. Oregon Ducks — #2
"Remember," Tony continued, "since Oregon State, which at the time was number twenty-three, UCLA has not faced another ranked opponent. They have taken advantage of the schedule, they have won, and they have climbed all the way to number seven in the country, but now comes the real test."
Monica kept staring at the graphic. Especially Oregon.
The Ducks' name seemed to carry more weight than all the others. A machine that had not lost a single game.
Tony turned toward one of the boxes.
"Bill, you're in Los Angeles and you've seen this UCLA transformation up close. How important is this bye week before that stretch?"
Bill did not hesitate for long, "Very important. It probably comes at the perfect time."
He adjusted the earpiece in his ear before continuing.
"UCLA had a complicated start. Not because of the number of ranked opponents, but because of the context. A new quarterback, a true freshman with the whole country watching him, a program trying to rebuild its identity, and media pressure unlike anything any team in the conference has faced in years."
He left a second of silence before adding, "And they got through it. The debut was dreamlike, exceeding expectations. They had the stumble against Nebraska, yes. But then they beat Oregon State, which is now ninth. They destroyed Houston. They destroyed Colorado. They survived an offensive war against California and handled Utah well. This team didn't get here by accident."
Kevin stepped in from his box, "But the Ducks are something else. To me, that is the toughest game on UCLA's schedule."
No one contradicted him.
The Bruins still had heavy opponents ahead of them, like Stanford and USC, but based on current form, ranking, and level of play, Oregon was the biggest challenge.
And to make matters worse, UCLA would have to go to the Ducks' stadium.
"Exactly," Bill conceded, nodding. "That's the point. Oregon isn't Colorado, it isn't Utah, it isn't California. Oregon is a machine. They're the number two team in the country for a reason. They have speed, depth, tempo, and an offense that can turn any mistake into seven points before you even finish blinking."
Tony smiled, "So this bye week comes at the perfect time for the Bruins to prepare mentally. Arizona will be a real test, but Oregon will be the ultimate exam."
"Without a doubt," Bill replied. "Arizona will be a real test. You can't look past a ranked team, even if they're near the bottom of the rankings. But UCLA are the favorites."
The Bruins were the number seven team in the country, and they had already shown they could beat teams tougher than they looked on paper. If they wanted to keep holding their place in the national conversation, they had to defeat Arizona before going after the Ducks.
At that moment, Rachel appeared from the hallway.
She was dressed impeccably. Her hair was perfectly arranged, her outfit chosen with care in a way that made everything look casual even though it clearly was not, and she carried the very particular energy of someone who had learned from a young age how to look good without seeming to try.
Monica, who had already heard what truly interested her from the show, picked up the remote and muted the television.
"Nervous?" she asked with a faint smile, watching her friend with a certain pride.
Rachel looked at her with her usual expression of elegant confusion, "Mm... why?"
Monica frowned slightly, "For the job interview."
"Oh. The job thing," Rachel said, as if she had only just remembered that it was part of her day. Then she made a small grimace. "More than nervous, I'd say disappointed."
Rachel had already spent almost all of her savings since arriving in Los Angeles. At first, with enough money in her account and complete confidence that everything would somehow work itself out, she had not worried too much about finding a job.
But Los Angeles had far too many stores and opportunities to buy clothes.
And to make matters worse, Haley was not exactly a responsible influence in that regard. Between the two of them, casual outings to look at clothes had turned into full-blown operations of financial destruction.
The problem was that Rachel's father, wealthy and authoritarian as always, did not seem willing to finance her independence from so far away.
So if she wanted to keep paying rent, buying food, and enjoying her small luxuries, she had no choice but to work.
At first, she had tried to find something related to fashion, but she had no luck. Without real contacts in the city or enough experience, doors closed one after another.
That was why she now had an interview to become a waitress.
It was not ideal, but it was part-time, relatively close to the apartment, and, in theory, did not seem that difficult.
"Remember we're having everyone over here today," Monica said, recovering her good mood. "Everyone's coming. I'll be the hostess, again!"
Since Andrew was not playing that Saturday, the group had decided to take advantage of the free weekend.
Instead of excitement, Rachel let out a heavy, dramatic sigh before collapsing onto the couch.
Monica narrowed her eyes, "What? Am I not a good hostess?"
Her tone sounded dangerous enough for Rachel to lift her head immediately.
"What? No, no, that's not it," she answered quickly. Then she looked away and muttered, "It's just that I haven't made any progress with Andrew."
Monica blinked, "What are you talking about? You've made plenty..."
She did not sound very convinced.
"Of course I haven't!" Rachel sat up a little, looking at her in frustration. "Nothing. I'm stuck in the friend zone."
Rachel had managed to integrate herself into Andrew's inner circle. Living with Haley, his cousin, had helped tremendously. Between that, fashion school, and the group's constant gatherings, she had ended up becoming a regular presence.
She was no longer a stranger.
Not even a casual friend.
But that was exactly the problem.
Friend.
Every time they saw each other, it was in a group. Just like it would be that same night. At games, dinners, outings, or gatherings, there was always someone else around.
Only once had she managed to truly be alone with him: after the loss against Nebraska, when they ended up watching Star Wars movies.
Since then, nothing.
Monica watched her in silence.
She wanted to tell her that the problem was not a lack of opportunities, but her passiveness.
It was fine to try to get closer naturally, just as Monica herself had once suggested. But Rachel seemed to have taken that idea to the opposite extreme, waiting for everything to happen on its own.
And that fit her quite well.
Rachel had grown up like a princess: popular, spoiled, admired, and used to things coming to her without having to chase them too much. Boys approached first. Invitations appeared on their own. Doors opened before she even thought about knocking.
But Andrew did not seem to want to start a relationship.
He had a very strict routine.
More than being uninterested, it gave the impression that he simply did not have the mental space to think about having a girlfriend.
So if Rachel kept waiting for him to make the first move, she could be waiting for a very long time.
"And on top of that, Willa is coming today. And Paige too," Rachel muttered, crossing her arms with obvious annoyance.
Monica did not answer right away.
Willa showed up every now and then, though lately she had been appearing more often. From what Haley had told them, she had been Andrew's best friend for a while.
But certain decisions Willa had made had ended up cooling the relationship between them. They were not fighting, but they did not seem to have fully recovered the trust they had once had either.
Paige, on the other hand, was another story.
She was a friend of Sam, Steve's girlfriend. And of all the friends of Sam's the group had met, Paige was the one who had integrated the fastest.
She got along well with everyone.
But especially with Andrew, Leonard, and Howard.
"I wouldn't worry too much about Willa," Monica said. "There's something there, yes, but there's also distance. You can tell something happened between them, and Andrew isn't exactly willing to go back to the way things were as if nothing happened."
Rachel glanced at her from the corner of her eye, listening closely.
"And Paige..." Monica paused briefly. "I don't know. She fits in well with the group and seems comfortable around him. But Andrew doesn't give me the impression that he's looking for a girlfriend right now."
Rachel let out a sigh.
That was true. And it was not as if she disliked Willa or Paige either.
She did not hate them, or anything like that.
The problem was that she saw them as girls who could be interested in Andrew the same way she was.
Willa had history with him. A complicated history, yes, but history all the same.
And Paige was new, smart, quick in conversation, and capable of keeping up with him when the topic became too technical or nerdy.
Rachel had heard more than once that Andrew liked intelligent girls.
Should she be worried?
Before she could say anything, the apartment door opened and Haley walked in.
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